Alyx Stewart started Kee Moh Snacks after contracting breast cancer and struggling to eat during her treatment.

"Immediately after my first chemo I wasn't able to hold anything down and I was vomiting straight away, and in that first week or two I dropped over 10 kilograms," she said. "I was admitted to hospital but the treatment given was for nausea, there wasn't any advice on food."

Alyx Stewart is the founder of Kee Moh Snacks.

The 49-year-old sells food that is palatable for patients undergoing cancer treatment and says her business, which turned over about $40,000 last year, is likely to get a boost if Labor's $2.3 billion pledge on cancer funding outlined in Bill Shorten's budget reply speech on Thursday night is legislated.

Labor's policy will fund up to 6 million free medical scans and 3 million specialist consultations over four years with no out-of-pocket costs for existing and future cancer patients.

Easing the financial pressure

While the policy will not cover Kee Moh Snacks' protein balls, smoothie mixes and overnight oats, Stewart hopes it will leave cancer patients with more money to spend on her products.

"If somebody has a bit more cash in their pocket and can use it for a complementary thing that can help them, this policy will be great for that," she says.

Stewart calculates she spent $33,000 on drugs, hospital admission and breast reconstruction when she was undergoing treatment for her cancer despite having private health insurance.

"The out-of-pocket costs are horrendous," she says. "If you can take away any of the stress of having cancer, and the monetary stress really adds to that, and remove a small portion of it, that would be a good thing."

Stewart says many cancer patients struggle to afford her products because of the financial pressure they are under.

"It's hard as I know the position they are in. It is a business, as much as I want to help people, I also need to look after my own family."

The startup, which offers chemotherapy treatments to patients in their own homes and turned over $2 million last year, could benefit from the policy indirectly if cancer patients have more financial options.

"It's a great stop-gap to help some people, but a big piece of the pie has been missed," Cook says.

Cook would like to see support for home chemotherapy which means patients do not have to incur travel costs for treatment and reduces the need for carers.

Alex McCauley, CEO of StartupAus,Credit:Daniel Munoz

Solace for startups

Shorten's budget reply speech did not set out any new policies for small business more broadly, however, it did provide some solace to the startup community.

Startups cried foul earlier this week when the Morrison government's budget papers only made passing references to innovation while carving a further $1.35 billion from the research and development tax incentive scheme.

The past two days have also seen tech heavyweights take to social media to bemoan a lack of foresight from politicians over issues including a bill on violent and abhorrent material on social media and the anti-encryption laws.

“The decline of R&D across the economy is a huge red flag for Australia, so it's encouraging to see Labor's platform starting to address the issue. Labor has also previously committed to doubling aggregate R&D spending in Australia by 2030 - a very positive target that will take lots of creative thinking and ambition to achieve,” StartupAus chief executive Alex McCauley said.

Despite this, “neither major party has outlined a credible strategic vision for how we're going to maintain our prosperity in a new tech-led era”, McCauley says.

Founder of sustainable energy startup Wave Swell Energy Tom Denniss says Shorten’s commitment to research and clean energy is a good sign for clean tech innovators, though says Labor’s policies have not yet played out in reality.

“I do think that it’s very important that Australia becomes a smart and innovative country. We can’t survive forever off mining.”

Power Ledger co-founder Jemma Green.

Blockchain energy trading startup Power Ledger welcomed Labor’s continued focus on research and renewables, though co-founder Jemma Green says Australia has to “raise the bar” on conversations about climate initiatives and policy.

“We have to raise the bar overall, we can’t just be the cheap place for coal to be imported to third world nations. We need to set the global standard for innovation and energy,” she says.